Destruction

Let’s get to the point straight away: the new Destruction dvd is vastly superior to the 2004 release Live Discharge. The concert feature (entitled A Savage Symphony – The Wacken Inferno) is of much better quality than the three shows on the former and the documentary (The History Of Annihilation) has been crafted with visibly much more effort than the mediocre interviews on the previous dvd.

The majority of the Wacken show also appeared on the recent double album The Curse Of The Antichrist – Live In Agony. And it could be the surround mix, but the sound is much less hollow and much more intense than the Wacken recordings on those cd’s. Destruction is in fine shape and the set list is a fine anthology of the best old and newer stuff of the band. Remarkable is that more recent bangers like Nailed To The Cross and The Butcher Strikes Back are received just as well as classics such as Curse The Gods, Reject Emotions, Unconscious Ruins and Bestial Invasion.

The German trio decorated the show with a few gimmicks that are either very entertaining or – in my eyes – completely useless. The presence of three drummers (Olli Kaiser, Sven Vormann and current drummer Marc Reign) during the medley of The Antichrist, Reject Emotions and Thrash Till Death works surprisingly well and it’s awesome that former guitarist Harry Wilkens picks up the second guitar for a couple of tracks. With an outfit that I think belongs to Sabaton frontman Joakim Brodén, but that’s beside the point. On the other hand, the (though very respectable) guest singers on The Alliance Of Hellhoundz are lined up near a microphone that’s not working and I’m sorry, but dancers at a thrash metal show?

I didn’t expect too much from The History Of Annihilation, but the outcome is a remarkably good. A huge pro when compared to the documentary on Live Discharge is that the interviews are in German, a language that the band members (especially guitarist Mike Sifringer) master much better than English. The subtitles are a tad small, but you can keep up with them easily if you don’t understand the whole thing anyway. In addition, all of the band members of Destruction’s past are involved this time. Everyone is rmarkably open hearted about the history of the band and that is exactly what makes this part so moving. There’s a great balance between old anecdotes, the experiences of the members involved and factual information. Kudos to the creators!

Among the extras, there’s the usual video clips and the biggest satan’s abortion of the metal dvd: a fan video compilation. Really, I don’t give a rat’s ass about how loud which fan can yell the bandname into the camera and therefore, I think these parts are only interesting for the people you can see in them.

But apart from that, A Savage Symphony / The History Of Annihilation is a fine dvd. The menus also look fantastic. Everyone who holds the Germans in their hearts should own this dvd. I only doubt if they’ll have any interest in the bonus cd, because it seems that it only contains recordings that were on The Curse Of The Antichrist already.

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